Melania Trump’s Spokeswoman In Trouble Over Tweet With #MAGA Slogan

First Lady Melania Trump’s longtime spokeswoman, Stephanie Grisham, reportedly received a warning from the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) after it was found that she used President Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan in a tweet.

According to The Hill, word of the “#MAGA” social media post first came from Delaware Senator Tom Carper, who tweeted on Thursday images of a letter from the OSC responding to allegations that Grisham violated the Hatch Act through her tweet. As part of her job at the White House as Melania Trump’s spokeswoman, Grisham is not allowed to use her official Twitter account to show support for political candidates. As seen in the OSC’s letter, that also includes Trump himself, who began using “Make America Great Again” as his slogan well before he first launched his presidential campaign, as noted by the Washington Post.

“Two months after my inquiry, the @US_OSC has confirmed that yet another Trump White House staffer has violated the Hatch Act. This administration’s blatant and repeated disregard for the law is astounding and unacceptable,” said Carper in a series of Twitter posts.

“At the very least, we should be able to trust that those who serve in the highest positions in our government will follow the law. Instead, this administration seems to promote a culture where showing that basic level of respect for the American taxpayer is optional.”

I was just re-reading that @stephenlemons piece – classic Grisham! And don't forget the time Arizona taxpayers paid her to travel the country stumping for prez-elect Trump. https://t.co/oHHZnn2e79

Summing up how he feels about Stephanie Grisham’s alleged violation of the Hatch Act, Carper, a Democrat, said that he found it “astounding,” adding that her tweet represented yet another one of the many times the Trump administration has broken laws.

Grisham isn’t the only White House staffer who has been accused of similar violations this year. Prior to the recent incident, presidential counselor Kellyanne Conway was found to be in violation of the Hatch Act for allegedly “advocating” for and against candidates in the 2017 Alabama Senate special election. According to CNN, the OSC focused on two incidents that took place in November and December of last year, during television interviews Conway accepted in her official capacity.

Conway’s actions were later defended by White House deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley, who said that she was simply echoing the president’s “obvious position” on certain matters. As of this writing, neither Donald nor Melania Trump has issued a comment on the OSC”s findings on Stephanie Grisham.

According to The Hill, the OSC’s duties only cover informing the White House if anyone has violated the Hatch Act, as only the president has authority to punish people found to have broken the aforementioned law.